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T-Rob goes back to his roots after rough rookie year

Former Jayhawk Thomas Robinson, now playing with his third NBA team, averaged 4.8 points and 4.5 rebounds during his rookie season.

LAWRENCE — A year into his NBA career, Thomas Robinson is still looking for a permanent address.

Robinson has been traded twice since he was drafted No. 5 overall by the Sacramento Kings in 2012, the most recent deal shipping him from Houston to Portland in exchange for two second-round picks and the draft rights for two international players.

If Robinson wants to feel at home, he can always come back to Lawrence, where he’s still the same indestructible power forward who led Kansas to the Final Four.

“I was just thinking about that the other day — walking on campus, coming to games, getting ready before the season, the Big 12 Tournament, everything I miss about here,” said Robinson, who was back in Lawrence on Sunday to help with a youth basketball camp run by Academy Sports.

The NBA has been a dose of cold reality for Robinson, who averaged 4.8 points and 4.5 rebounds during what he described as the “rookie roller coaster.”

The Kings moved on from their top pick midway through his rookie season, sending Robinson to the Rockets for a package of players that included Toney Douglas, Patrick Patterson and former Jayhawk Cole Aldrich.

Robinson was on the move again after the 2013 draft as the Rockets tried to clear space to sign free agent Dwight Howard. Now on his third team, Robinson has barely had time to unpack his things in each city.

“You don’t feel settled at all,” he said. “Before I even got settled, I was being traded. It’s a unique situation, but unique things tend to happen to me, man. I’ll be fine.”

Jayhawk fans know Robinson’s story well. His mother died unexpectedly during his sophomore season at KU, leaving Robinson and his young sister Jayla on their own. Robinson declined to speak about Jayla on Sunday, but as for himself, the past year has been both trying and rewarding.

“I feel like I’ve been in the league about five years already, but it’s only been one,” he said. “It’s a good thing. It matured me as a player. It matured me as a person.”

Robinson hopes the move to Portland can provide stability. Playing behind all-star LaMarcus Aldridge, he won’t be under pressure to put up big numbers or justify his draft position. He isn’t worried about the Trail Blazers giving up on him too quickly, either.

“I feel wanted, which is a good thing,” he said. “They’re young, very young and talented, especially with the main core guys. I’ll just try to go in there and try to find a spot to help the team.”

Finding himself as a player was Robinson’s focus after a rough rookie season. He’s always been a relentless rebounder — he set a KU record with 27 double-doubles as a junior — who scored points with brute force instead of polished skill.

Those points don’t come as easily in the NBA, so Robinson needs to be a rebounder first, coach Bill Self said.

“Since he had the green light his last year (at KU), he knew if he missed, it didn’t matter because he was supposed to keep shooting,” Self said. “In the NBA, it’s a little bit different when you’re not the first option. He’s got to be able to make one out of two from wherever he shoots from.

“He’s a rebounder that can score as opposed to a scorer that can rebound. If he just worries about the things he can control, he’ll become an even better shooter.”

Robinson said he’s reached the same conclusion. The NBA summer league isn’t necessarily a desirable stop for a top-five pick in his second season, but playing with the Trail Blazers in Las Vegas this summer helped Robinson get back to what he does best.

“I think the main focus after I left Sacramento was everybody trying to get me to find out who I am as a player,” said Robinson, who averaged 10.4 points and 12.8 rebounds in five summer league games. “That never was lost. I was just trying to do something else.”

With everything he’s been through, it’s easy to forget that Robinson is just a year removed from leading the Jayhawks to the national title game. High draft picks can be judged quickly — and harshly — in the NBA, but Robinson hopes he has a lot of basketball ahead.

“It’s tough, but it’s what you ask for,” Robinson said. “I asked to be a top pick, so of course the expectations are going to come with it. But my career’s not over, so it doesn’t matter what I did last year.”